The Regression 2
by ZombieCatTookMyPudding
Summary: Sequel to The Regression and related to The Gummypuss. Gumball is frustrated with being in middle school, so Nicole decides to take it to the next level: sending him back to kindergarten for a day! Not only does he get to be a little kid for a day, but he also finds he's not alone in his interests...(one-shot, requested by 5UP3RNOVA.)


**A/N**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Amazing World of Gumball. All rights go to their respective owners. Also, this was a request by 5UP3NOVA, so credit goes to him/her for the main idea.**

* * *

On Wednesdays, Nicole Watterson would come home early from work. It was on Wednesdays when she came home early that she would make her children snacks after a long day of school.

The blue cat jumped a bit as she heard the front door open.

"Oh, MAN!" came the voice of her adopted son, Darwin. "Why does school have to be so hard?"

"I know, right?" his brother, Gumball replied. "Classes are hard enough during the day, we have to do school stuff afterwards, too?! This sucks!"

"Please," a third voice, from her daughter, Anias, scoffed. "You two have it _easy_. You don't have to complete _honors_ classes as a _four year old_."

* * *

Gumball was the last to brush his teeth before bed.

"Hi, sweetie!" Startled at his mom's voice, Gumball nearly swallowed on his toothpaste.

"Mom, what the heck?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gumball. I guess I should have knocked first," Nicole said as she causally closed the bathroom door behind her.

"What are you...doing?"

"I just wanted to talk alone for a minute..." she spoke softer as she turned the lock on the knob.

A bead of nervous sweat broke on Gumball's face. "Am...I in trouble?" he asked.

"No! No, not at all!" Nicole knelt to Gumball's level, putting her hands on his shoulders. "But I overheard you talking earlier about just how hard school can be."

Gumball shrugged. "Yeah, it is. But it's not like I can go back to kindergarten or anything," he said before going back to brushing his teeth.

"About that..." Nicole couldn't hide the wide grin on her face, a grin that her son quickly took note of.

"Wait, are you saying I...I _can?_"

Giggling with her paws over her mouth, and the tiniest tears welling up in her eyes, Nicole nodded.

Gumball gave a gleeful laugh and threw his arms around her neck. "Oh, thank you, Mommy!" he cried, nuzzling into her. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"There's just a few things you need to know first."

"Sure, Mom," Gumball raised his head to look up at her.

"For one, it's only for tomorrow; I've told the teacher of the class you're going to that you're going to help out for the day. Two, you're going to have to pretend to be sick so no one suspects anything. I'll even call the school saying you have a tummy flu. And third...you can't go back to kindergarten until you tell me who's my little baby boy."

Gumball blushed. "Aw, Mom..."

"Come on," Nicole pinched Gumball's chubby whiskered cheek, "who's my baby boy?"

Gumball smiled sweetly as his cheeks grew darker. "I...I am, Mommy."

Nicole pulled him into a hug. "And don't you forget it." Pecking him on the forehead, she released him, stood up, and unlocked the door. "All right, now finish getting ready for bed. You've got a big day tomorrow!" she whispered excitedly.

* * *

When the alarm went off the next morning, Gumball groaned as he hit the "snooze" button, roaning, shivering as he pulled the blankets tighter around his shoulders.

"What's wrong, Gumball?" Darwin asked, poking his head from his fish tank.

"I..." Gumball coughed. "I don't feel so good."

Worried, Darwin called for their mother, and about fifteen seconds later she came into the room.

Nicole put a hand on Gumball's forehead. "Oh dear. You're burning up." But, of course, this was just a lie to keep up the act; Gumball's forehead felt just fine. "You stay in bed," Nicole said, tucking the blankets tighter around Gumball. "I'll call you in."

* * *

Gumball spent the next half-an-hour or so sitting in bed, waiting for Nicole to come back. As soon as the bedroom door opened, he asked, "do you think they bought it?"

"No one's asking questions yet." Setting the clothes down on the bed, Nicole urged Gumball; "come on, let's get you dressed."

Instead of his typical sweater and pants, Nicole had dressed Gumball in a yellow-striped t-shirt, blue overalls, red sneakers with white socks, and a propeller hat, just to top off the look.

"Oh, sometimes I wish you didn't insist on keeping this a secret. You look so adorable!"

"Mom..." Gumball's ears flattened sheepishly, his cheeks a light pink.

Darwin and Anias had been at school for a while now, and Richard was still fast asleep. If Gumball and Nicole were looking for the perfect time to leave, it would be now.

* * *

Holding Nicole's hand the same way he did as a small child would, Gumball walked with Nicole into the building.

"Wow..." Gumball couldn't help but marvel at the brightly-colored classroom.

"Hi! You must be Gumball!" an anthropomorphic artic fox approached the two. "My name is Miss Vixen; I'm the teacher of this class." Eyeing Gumball and studying him for a moment, one corner of her mouth slightly folded in a hint of disapproval. "Well, not...quite the attire I would expect from a big boy helper but..." Miss Vixen's smile restored itself, "...we're always happy to have a visitor here at Elmore Kindergarten!"

"Have a great day, Gumball!" Nicole kissed him on the forehead. "I'll see you at the end."

* * *

Gumball spent the rest of the day playing with the kids and helping them learn things like spelling and numbers. Miss Vixen even let him nap with the other kids at nap time! It was great to feel like a little kid again...the only complaint he ever really had about this day was trying to keep half the kids from eating paste. Even when _he_ was little he thought that was gross.

Lunch time came around, and Gumball took a seat at the corner of the table the other kids were eating at. His mom packed him his favorite: peanut butter jelly with juice and, hey, was that? A pacifier! Gumball looked to his left, then his right. Everyone was so focused on their lunches...Gumball was sure no one would notice...

Chuckling softly, he popped the small piece of blue plastic into his mouth.

Looking up, the sight of a young otter pup sitting alone in a corner of the room, covering his mouth caught Gumball's eye. Feeling bad for him sitting all alone, Gumball decided he should go and talk to him. Putting the pacifier in his front overall pocket, Gumball made his way to where the little kid was sitting.

"Hey, buddy; what's wrong?"

"Nuthin'," the otter pup muttered, looking away as he covered his mouth.

Gumball felt himself become slightly exasperated. "Oh, come on, man! Don't tell me you're eating paste!"

"Ew, no!" as the otter kid blurted the words out, something fell from his mouth, which he quickly covered with his hands.

"Oh, good." Gumball took note of the kid's clasped hands. "What'cha got there?" he asked, his tone gentler.

"Nuthin'!" the otter kid insisted, his cheeks turning a little red.

Gumball feigned confusion. "If it's nothing, why do you look like you're hiding something?"

"I'm not."

"Show me."

A pause sat between them as they locked eyes. It was a short-lived staring contest that Gumball had won.

Defeated, the otter kid pouted. "Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anybody!"

"I won't, promise!"

Bashfully, the otter pup opened his hands to reveal...a baby-blue pacifier, just like Gumball's! "I lost my teeth. Mommy says big boy ones will come in, but they hurt!"

Gumball got on his knees so his face was more level with the kid's. "Oh man, I hear that. Why are you hiding it?"

The otter pup's eyes watered. "I brought it yesterday, but the fifth-graders down the hall made fun of me for looking like a baby!"

"That's...not nice," Gumball grumbled, avoiding the use of some other words he could have said.

"Yeah but it's true...I _am_ too old for a pacifier."

"Not really; look:"

The otter pup gasped softly as Gumball showed him the identical pacifier.

"What's your name?"

"Otie."

"Otie, huh? I'm Gumball. I'm all the way in seventh grade, and I still use a pacifier sometimes."

"Why?" Otie asked. "Don't you have your big boy teeth?"

"Yeah, but I still like the way it feels against my gums." Answering to the kid's confusion, Gumball added, "that's the pink part above your teeth."

"Oh."

Moving so that Gumball sat next to him on the floor, he asked, "how about after school, we show those meanies that you can use a pacifier and still be cool?"

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Mm-hm," Gumball nodded as he popped the pacifier back in his mouth.

Otie wrapped his arms around Gumball. "Thanks, Gumball! You're the best!"

Gumball handing Otie his pacifier back, the two sucked on the rubbery plastics happily in the corner until lunch time was over.

* * *

It was almost time to go home. Gumball and Otie were trying to fit into the baby swings on the playground, but, as you can imagine, only one of the two was successful. Giving up sitting in a seat that was too uncomfortably tiny for him, Gumball settled for pushing his new friend on the swings at the otter pup's request, both of them soon to pop their pacifiers back in their mouths.

"Hey, look, guys:" a chubby hamster kid stood with his legs apart and his arms crossed, accompanied by an an anthropomorphic mouse and black panther. "It's wittle baby Otie," his friends laughed as the leader of the three pouted after talking in baby-talk.

"Who's your _friend_, Otie?" the panther called teasingly. "You playing with an even _bigger_ baby now?"

Gumball stopped pushing Otie, and Otie removed his pacifier to speak. "Leave us alone."

"Awww, is wittle baby Otie gonna cwy?" the hamster guffawed, his friends laughing cruelly.

"No, no I'm not." Otie smiled confidently. "My friend, Gumball, is here to help me."

"Aw, look at that, the _big_ baby's gonna help the _wittle_ baby!"

"What's your problem with Otie?" Gumball asked the leader. "Did he do anything to _you?_"

The bullies paused.

"No," the leader said, shrugging.

"Then why are you picking on him?"

The hamster scoffed. "He's sucking on a pacifier. Like a baby. That's stupid."

"Yeah!"

"What he said!"

Gumball chuckled and shook his head.

"What's so funny?" the hamster asked.

"I just think it's funny you guys are a bunch of cowards."

"Huh?! How're _we_ the cowards?!" the mouse snapped at him.

Gumball stepped up to the group of slightly smaller kids. "I bet you guys do some kind of 'baby-ish' stuff at home, too: maybe you sleep with a certain blanket you use for comfort, or maybe you still watch shows like _Daisy the Donkey._ Even if you don't, the difference between us and you is that we're _not afraid_ to act like babies sometimes. We're _not afraid_ to suck pacifiers in public. We're not afraid to tell people we watch _Daisy the Donkey_ sometimes. We're not afraid to act young for our age, and _you_, are."

The other kids gawked at him for a few seconds before the leader spoke again. "Pfft, losers!" The hamster half-heartedly kicked some dirt in Gumball's direction. "Come on, guys, let's go."

Gumball dusted his hands, satisfied. "That should keep them away for a while," he said, walking back over to Otie.

"Yay!" the otter pup hugged him. "Thank you so much, Gumball! I don't know if I could have stood up to the without you."

"Gumball! Otie!" Miss Vixen called from the doorway. "Your moms are here; it's time to go home."

"Okay! Be there in a second!" Gumball called back.

Helping Otie down from the swings, Gumball temporarily reflected on the hypocrisy of the speech he used to stand up for Otie. He liked doing all of the baby stuff he talked about, but he'd been keeping this a secret from Darwin and Anias for a while now, even if they were okay doing baby stuff with him the first time they found out. Maybe it was time they know it wasn't just a one-time thing. Really, they were his family: what was the worst that could happen?

"Mommy! Mommy! Can Gumball come play at our house after school?" Otie asked his mother, standing next to Nicole.

"I'm okay with it if Mrs. Watterson is."

Nicole looked a bit guilty at letting the little boy down. "Oh, I'm sorry, Otie. Gumball has some...other plans for tonight. But, maybe we can arrange something for the weekend."

Gumball was about to protest to that statement, but kept quiet when he remembered he was supposed to be playing sick once he got home. Maybe telling the rest of his family about the "baby" thing could wait.

The moms exchanged phone numbers so they could keep in contact later, then everyone went on their way home.

* * *

"Did you have a good time today?" Nicole asked as she began to drive away from the school.

"I sure did! I'd even like to do it again sometime."

Nicole laughed. "We'll see. Doing this today was difficult enough, but if I see a window of opportunity in the future, I'll have to talk to Miss Vixen about bringing you back. In the mean time, we should really get home and get you back into pajamas. Darwin and Anias will be home soon."

"Okay. And, Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Thank you. It's not every day I get to re-live my past."

"My pleasure, Gumball."


End file.
